L.A. Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman Turns to Microdramas to Power Youth Vote

It’s an unseasonably warm September day in Chatsworth, and the air conditioning at the Capital Arts soundstages has gone out. The crew has one day to churn out four microdramas for Nithya Raman‘s campaign for Los Angeles mayor.

They are running a little behind schedule.

“Quiet please!”

“We’re having fun!” shouts director Ryan Wagner. “Even if we mess up, we’re having fun! Action!”

Raman is due on set in about 45 minutes, and the crew is trying to squeeze in as many takes as possible of a telenovela-themed spot before resetting for the candidate’s scene. The actors, Hannah Martinez and Adriana Palacios, zip through melodramatic Spanish dialogue punctuated by a farcical face slap. “It should feel very campy,” Wagner tells them.

To no one in particular, he adds: “I am sweating out of every part of my body.”

Raman, a councilwoman, is doing well with young voters. In the latest L.A. Times poll, she led incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, with 66% choosing Raman and just 4% choosing Bass among those aged 18-29. But young voters are also hard to reach. So the campaign has turned to microdramas — short-form vertical videos that appeal to younger audiences — in an effort to attract more of them.

The crew behind this production are mostly in their 20s, and are all part of the microdrama ecosystem that has sprung up in Los Angeles in the last two years.

Wagner, 31, got his start in independent film and is now creative director at CandyJar, one of many microdrama platforms. His directing credits include “The Arrangement,” “Double Take,” and “Loving My Brother’s Best Friend.” He volunteered to knock on doors for Raman during the primary, but quickly chafed at it.

“I was canvassing, and doing a terrible job and getting really sweaty,” he said in an interview. “And I was kind of thinking, ‘ls there anything else I could possibly do to contribute to this?'”

He pitched the campaign on an idea. In their spare time, he and his friends would produce a few microdramas free of charge. If they liked them, they could post them. If not, no worries.

“They were both very supportive and also quite skeptical of… ‘What even is this?'” Wagner said.

The campaign reviewed the scripts but was otherwise uninvolved. It was only after the videos were produced and delivered that the campaign staff truly got it and embraced it, said Kemma Filby, a producer who often works with Wagner.

“It’s a bit of a risk, I think, to engage with microdramas. A lot of people just still don’t understand them,” she said. “But I think it’s a space where people are getting lots of views — and it’s also fun. Young people want to see politicians who can engage with the culture and be a little silly.”

The videos produced during the primary were campy and extremely wonky, pairing soap-opera plotlines with detailed discussions of Raman’s positions on public transit, tenant protections and rent stabilization. The videos racked up more than 850,000 views, according to the Raman campaign, making for some of the best performing content of the primary.

The campaign liked them enough to invest a modest sum — $15,000 — to make more videos for the November runoff.

“They did such an incredible job that we knew that we wanted to get four more in the general,” said Kyle Rohrbach, who oversees video content for Raman. “It’s really important for campaigns these days to meet people where they’re at.”

Young voters helped propel Raman to a surprise second-place finish in June. To reach Latinos — a critical demographic in the runoff — the campaign asked that one of the new videos be in Spanish. The videos are also aimed at Hollywood workers, making a nod to the format that many have turned to in the absence of other production work.

“For so many people, their livelihood right now is dependent on microdramas,” said Filby, who has produced titles like “Chasing Kiarra” and “I Accidentally Stole the Bad Boy’s First Kiss.” “Honestly, while it’s not something I expected to find myself doing, I’m very grateful that the industry exists because it’s given so many of us steady work.”

With the campaign funding, Wagner and Filby were able to buy lunch and offer modest stipends to the crew. But even when they had no money during the primary, they had little trouble convincing their friends to donate time.

“All these people were already Nithya supporters,” Wagner said. “Everyone here wants to be here, and the process of making it is fun. This is one of the least cynical experiences I’ve been a part of.”

The general election videos are meant to be seen in vertical format — either on Instagram or other platforms — though Wagner will also provide the campaign with horizontal versions.

They include a parody of “The Pitt” that takes on the big-money donors behind Bass’s campaign. A “Mean Girls” spoof highlights Raman’s opposition to a $1 billion LAPD contract. And in a spot set in a police precinct, a detective credits Raman for pushing back on the “lie” that City Hall must be incompetent.

Raman has showed up, on schedule, to deliver her big line in this sketch. She gets miked up and hits her mark on cue. Wagner, who wrote the script, seeks reassurance that the words aren’t too ridiculous. “They’re great,” she says.

After a few takes, Wagner calls a wrap.

“Thank you to all of you,” Raman tells the crew. “Thank you for believing L.A. can be better.”

Raman was not in the original videos, so Wagner is thrilled that she came today.

“It was so amazing,” he said. “Having her here, I think, is the most solid endorsement that this is something that feels worth her time, and is actually helping the campaign.”